85 SR250 quick & low budget brat

brovok

brovok

New Member
I wanted something to work on over the christmas break, so I picked up a 1985 SR250 in fairly good condition. The previous owner told me that he had bought it for his now ex girlfriend as a first bike. So it had recently been brought up to a road worthy standard, It had brand new tyres, chain, sprocket & fork seals. The only downside to the bike was it had a quick rattle can touch up pretty much all over. Not a big deal, It just meant a bit of extra stripping and sanding.

My workshop (which makes custom windows/doors & joinery) was closing for three weeks and my boss gave me the thumbs up for using the space to work on the bike. I live in a one bedroom apartment, so working on the bike in there wasn't really an option.

So take away christmas day, boxing day, new years and time spent with the wife and dog over the break I knew I was going to cut it close. I would have just over two weeks to strip it down and have It at least rolling again. This was also my first ever project, so everything was going to be a learning experience.

I will upload some photos with a small a description which should cover most of the project.

 
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Started taking all the guff off.


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Most of the guff!
 
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Starting grinding off tabs and cleaning some welds.

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Bit of ply to give me a visual for the seat pan. Ended up picking up a seat from motolanna.com for about the same amount an upholster quoted me. Going to give it a crack myself next time.

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Just went over the engine covers with a wire brush the clean off all the paint.
 
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Cut front fender, primed and first coat. I was going to go flat black frame, tank and fenders but I ended up giving them a final coat with charcoal hammer paint, which i then dulled down by going over it with super fine wet and dry. A tip for hammer paint, wait atleast 2-3 days before a re-coat as it can wrinkle the first coat almost instantly. Learnt that the hard way.
 
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Blacked out the engine and covers with high temp flat black and primer.


Tank; filled, sanded and first coat of primer.
 
keep up the good work, you are de-uglifying a truly butt ugly bike, maybe see you on the boulevard one day when its done, look out for a vmax with an owner that makes it look like a 250.........
 
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I asked a friend to fab me up a battery box out of stainless for me, but he was going to be away for a month. So I made up a temp box out of marine grade ply which I fully sealed and painted with a fire resistant paint and used some aly for brackets. Originally I was going for a small battery under the seat, but wanted to keep the budget down. I was quite happy the way it turned out.
 
spotty said:
keep up the good work, you are de-uglifying a truly butt ugly bike, maybe see you on the boulevard one day when its done, look out for a vmax with an owner that makes it look like a 250.........
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Cheers mate. The seat and speedo have definitely got to be up there with the worst.

Ill look out for you soon.
 
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Primed and first coat flat black front wheel. Used the card trick that i've seen on a bunch of posts.
 
bin the speedo and go for pushbike one (tiny but needs sensor on front wheel with wire running up the forks) or GPS (they have speed function and are usually internally lit for nite use which pushbike ones aren't)
 
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I hung the battery box just to see if it was going to work. I also made a small panel which houses the electrics under the seat, the battery box fixes onto it for easy access to recharge. I got away with only having to buy some new battery cables everything else reaches its designated spot fine. Rear wheel still needs to come off and be painted.

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I placed the tank on to give me a good visual.
 
another tip to de-SR it, shove the forks an inch or so up thru the clamps, it'll quicken the steering and flatten out the angle of droop on the petrol tank a bit, you could also raise the back of the tank depending on how your seat sits when igt turns up,
 
I picked up a bunch of parts from Modern motorcycle co. in Collingwood. Christian the owner is a really nice guy and has really nice builds. http://www.modernmotorcyclecompany.com/ There is also a rad short film he has http://vimeo.com/33852848

What i bought:
54mm Emgo pod filter
Crankcase filter (fits 11-13mm spigot)
Black low tracker bars
60mm white faced speedo
Black shorty reverse cone muffler
Small round indicators
Black small round tail light with number plate bracket.

Super happy with the parts and saved on shipping by picking them up. :)
 
Picked up some bar end mirrors off ebay for $20 inc delivery. Also got some black pipe wrap. I needed to get a new fuel cap seal but I ended up getting a brand new gas cap for less $$.


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pod and crankcase filters.

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speedo mounted, bars fitted. I also took off and painted the original headlight cover flat black. Kept the original switches and leavers will eventually swap them out for posh ones.
 
by feck, that was quick since yer last post, where are you, fitzroy?

nice score on the parts too, a mate has bought mini switches for his 70s bonneville from there and rated it as a right good shop
 
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I fitted the muffler before I wrapped the pipes so it looks alot cleaner. Got it super tight by myself but I will have a mate help me do it next time.

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another quick one, CV carbs (such as yours) don't always take kindly to pod filters, they usually need rejetting especially the air bleed jet that controls the way the slide operates (cos its not operated by the throttle cable, that opens a butterfly valve in front of the slidee), i tried it with my XS650 and it was totally unrideable
have a look round on this site, there'll be info on what to use
 
spotty said:
by feck, that was quick since yer last post, where are you, fitzroy?

nice score on the parts too, a mate has bought mini switches for his 70s bonneville from there and rated it as a right good shop
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Haha yer shes pretty much done now, rode her to my mechanic mate to get rejetted and tuned up. On the way there I topped out at around 70kmh :p Its running very rich. Should have it back in a couple of days.

I love those posh mini switches, I really want to grab a pair.

Im in Oakleigh.
 
brovok said:
I love those posh mini switches, I really want to grab a pair.
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just be aware you have to cut some biggish 'oles in yer nice new bars.......careful with that black paint
 
spotty said:
another quick one, CV carbs (such as yours) don't always take kindly to pod filters, they usually need rejetting especially the air bleed jet that controls the way the slide operates (cos its not operated by the throttle cable, that opens a butterfly valve in front of the slidee), i tried it with my XS650 and it was totally unrideable
have a look round on this site, there'll be info on what to use
Click to expand...

I could only really ride it with the choke right out, otherwise it was just puut puutting and cutting out. Cheers for the advice.
 
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